Prince Charles to reaffirm ‘trusted partnership’ with Barbados as nation prepares to cut ties with Queen

Published

2 years ago

November 29, 2021

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The Prince of Wales will reaffirm the “myriad connections between the people of our countries” as he flies to Barbados for a ceremony to remove the Queen as head of state and transition to a republic.

Prince Charles, who said he believes it is “important” for him to attend the ceremony, arrived in Barbados late on Sunday, following an invitation from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

The heir to the throne will deliver his address just after midnight as Barbados begins a new chapter in its history on 30 November – the 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Prince Charles will say: “As your constitutional status changes, it was important to me that I should join you to reaffirm those things which do not change.

“For example, the close and trusted partnership between Barbados and the United Kingdom as vital members of the Commonwealth; our common determination to defend the values we both cherish and to pursue the goals we share; and the myriad connections between the people of our countries – through which flow admiration and affection, co-operation and opportunity – strengthening and enriching us all.”

It’s understood Prince Charles will reflect on his own personal connection with the country, which he first visited 50 years ago, in his speech.

Barbados’s decision to remove the Queen as head of state will be watched closely by other members of the Commonwealth, especially in the Caribbean region.

Last month, the island elected its first-ever president to replace the Queen.

Sandra Mason, the current governor general or Queen’s representative, will be sworn in as president just before Prince Charles makes his speech.

On announcing the move to become a republic last year, Ms Mason said in a speech: “Having attained Independence over half a century ago, our country can be in no doubt about its capacity for self-governance.

“The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind.”

Prince Charles will be awarded the prestigious Order of Freedom Independence award at the transition ceremony later.

The honour is given to those who have given extraordinary service to the country, the Caribbean diaspora or to humanity at large.

But David Denny, from the Caribbean movement for Peace and Integration, has described the Prince’s visit as “an insult”, and is calling for reparations to make amends for the slave trade.

Speaking to Sky News, he said: “We called the protests so that Barbadian people could express their solidarity together and demand reparations from the Royal Family, Richard Drax and all of the companies that would have benefitted from slavery.”

He added: “Republic means a lot for the people of Barbados. That’s why I say to you that what is happening on the 30th is just the building of the Republic, where we will have ceremonial changes.

“But the idea of a Republic would be to create a greater level of people’s participation in the decision-making in Barbados, create the conditions for economic and political democracy in Barbados, and creating the conditions for self-governance in Barbados.”

On announcing the trip Clarence House said Prime Minister Mottley invited Prince Charles, as the future head of the Commonwealth, to be a guest of honour at the events celebrating the birth of the new republic.

Barbados, a former colony of the British Empire, gained independence in 1966. But since then it has remained a Commonwealth realm, retaining the Queen as monarch.

It is following other Caribbean nations who have also dispensed with the Queen as their head of state, with Guyana becoming a republic in 1970, Trinidad and Tobago following in 1976 and Dominica two years later.

In recent years Jamaica has also flagged it wants an elected head of state, with Prime Minister Andrew Holness saying it is a priority of his government, but has yet to achieve it.

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Senegalese hoping for better lives wait as ‘impossible’ route to US shuts

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Senegalese hoping for better lives wait as 'impossible' route to US shuts

A popular passage used by thousands of Senegalese migrants to enter the US via flights to Nicaragua and a land route through Mexico has become practically “impossible”, a Senegalese man who made the trip has told Sky News.

Local authorities have banned travel agents from selling plane tickets from Dakar to Nicaragua. Airports in Casablanca and Madrid – key transit hubs for the route – imposed transit visas on Senegalese passport holders earlier this year.

The crackdown comes after US authorities arrested Senegalese migrants 20,231 times for crossing the border illegally from July to December.

That’s 10 times more arrests than in the last six months of 2022, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

“There are some friends who ask how I did it, they were curious but didn’t have the money to make it,” a Senegalese man who made the journey in August 2023 tells us from his new home in the US.

“I put some of them in touch with the guy who helped me but some waited too long and now the route is closed.”

He says he spent 10 years’ worth of savings boosted by a loan from his sister to buy the £5,200 plane ticket to Nicaragua and pay £2,600 for smugglers taking them through Central America.

“It was very hard. I just got information from one of my friends that it was possible to attempt the US via Nicaragua and at that point I didn’t even have a passport,” he said.

He flew from Dakar to Casablanca to Madrid and after a 23-hour transit boarded a flight to Bogotá. From there, he flew to San Salvador and finally took a last flight to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua.

After five flights, the difficult journey had only just begun.

‘Guys were celebrating… crying’

He boarded a bus from Nicaragua to Honduras and then to Mexico where smugglers transported them in pickup trucks and by foot to the US border.

He says he was robbed by gangsters multiple times as he traversed the tough terrain of rivers and mountains to make it to the fence.

“When they cut the fence and brought us across, guys were celebrating, crying and shouting. After that we had to walk for a long distance but we were too happy to feel it,” he said.

He spent two days at the border detention camp on the US-Mexico border before he was released.

It took him 18 days to make it and says that for others it can take a month. There is no doubt in his mind that he made the right choice, even as he waits for permanent status.

“Senegal is very hard – I went to university and have a masters degree. It is better [here in the US] than Senegal. What they pay here in one week is more than [what they pay] a month in Senegal,” he added.

Young men across Dakar are working to earn money in case a similar route to the US opens.

The journey through Nicaragua to the US is seen as a safer – albeit expensive – alternative to the deadly Atlantic route to the Canary Islands by fishing boat and the arduous land journey through North Africa to the Mediterranean Sea and then across to Italy.

For those who have survived those routes, the cost of trying and failing is much higher than the thousands of pounds needed to get to the US.

‘I thought slavery was finished’

Window-cleaner Issa, 32, says he was enslaved, tortured and detained in Libya before agreeing to return to Dakar.

He now organises a support group called Young Migrant Returnees that meet to work through the trauma they experienced in Libya and other corridor countries and raise awareness around the dangers.

“It was incredibly difficult – forced labour – we faced terrible things and we don’t want it to happen to friends and family,” he said.

“There were many of us and a lot of them died on the road. Some of them were imprisoned but we had a chance to come back to our country.”

He added: “I will never forget those memories. I thought that slavery was finished but from what I’ve experienced it’s still happening.”

Repelled from trying again via Libya and horrified by the hundreds of young men dying in the North Atlantic, they weigh up their options.

Issa’s brother was in Brazil when the Nicaragua route opened up and is now in the US.

“If someone presented us with an opportunity to leave, which is different to the Libya route, we will take it because we are living a hard life in Senegal,” he said.

“Even those who worked in factories – the pay cheque is not good.”

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Slovakian PM critically ill in hospital after being shot several times

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Slovakian PM critically ill in hospital after being shot several times

Slovakia’s prime minister remains in hospital in a critical condition after being shot several times in an attempted assassination.

Robert Fico was reported to be fighting for his life after being hit in the stomach on Wednesday.

At least four shots were fired outside a cultural centre in the town of Handlova, around 85 miles northeast of the capital Bratislava, where the 59-year-old was meeting supporters, the government said.

A 71-year-old suspect is in custody, but the motive for the shooting is still unclear.

Who is Slovak prime minister Robert Fico?

A message posted to Mr Fico’s Facebook account said he was taken to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, 17 miles from Handlova, because it would take too long to get to Bratislava.

The attack comes as political campaigning heats up three weeks ahead of Europe-wide elections to choose members for the European Parliament.

Mr Fico’s return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American ticket led to worries among fellow EU and NATO members that he would turn his country further away from the Western mainstream.

Under his stewardship, the government has halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, and his opponents worry he will lead Slovakia in the footsteps of Viktor Orban’s Hungary.

Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest against Mr Fico’s policies.

Concern is mounting that populist and nationalists similar to Mr Fico could make gains in the 27-member bloc.

“A physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy,” outgoing president and political rival of Mr Fico, Zuzana Caputova, said in a statement.

“Any violence is unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we’ve been witnessing in society leads to hateful actions. Please, let’s stop it.”

President-elect Peter Pellegrini, an ally of the new prime minister, called the shooting “an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy.

“If we express other political opinions with pistols in squares, and not in polling stations, we are jeopardising everything that we have built together over 31 years of Slovak sovereignty.”

Joe Biden said he was alarmed, adding that the US “condemn this horrific act of violence”.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg posted on X that he was “shocked and appalled” by the attempt on Mr Fico’s life.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a “vile attack”.

Mr Fico, a third-time premier, and his left wing Smer, or Direction, party won Slovakia’s parliamentary elections in September.

But politics have been put aside in the wake of the shooting, with Slovakia’s parliament adjourned until further notice.

World

Temu faces legal challenge over ‘manipulative practices’

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Temu faces legal challenge over 'manipulative practices'

Temu is facing a fresh legal complaint filed by 17 companies in the European Union.

The Chinese online retailer is accused of “failing to protect consumers” and “using manipulative practices which are illegal under recent EU legislation”, according to consumer group BEUC.

Temu was only launched in September 2022, but has quickly become one of the most popular online marketplaces worldwide.

In the UK, it was the most downloaded app in 2023 but it is now facing difficulties in the EU.

The legal complaint alleges the company is breaking new rules that mean no matter where the company is based, products have to comply with European law if they sell to European consumers.

Consumer group Which? found weapons for sale on the marketplace and heaters that “could explode” but now warns UK companies do not have the ability to challenge the Chinese retailer.

“It is positive to see other consumer groups across Europe joining together to hold Temu to account for failing to prevent unsafe products ending up in people’s homes,” said Which’s director of policy and advocacy Rocio Concha.

“However, the UK risks being left behind as weak consumer protection laws make it more difficult to take effective action against Temu and other online marketplaces.”

The legal complaint accuses the company of “manipulative practices” like making it harder to delete your account than to set it up, and misleading customers on pricing.

It also accuses Temu of allowing some of its traders to be untraceable by consumers, which is against EU laws.

“Temu fails to know the traders selling on its platform and may not be in a position to ensure that all the products sold by those traders comply with EU standards,” reads the complaint.

It also alleges Temu is not clear enough about why certain products are recommended to users, which is also against EU law.

Temu told Sky News in a statement: “Our commitment to compliance and our willingness to engage stakeholders globally can be seen in our proactive actions.

“In the past week, Temu entered a cease-and-desist declaration with Germany’s [Federation of German Consumer Organisations], committing to addressing concerns raised about our practices.

“Additionally, on Monday, Temu signed a product safety pledge with South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, committing to a comprehensive system to detect, prevent, and remove unsafe products from circulation.

“Regarding the BEUC complaint, we take it very seriously and will study it thoroughly. We hope to continue our dialogue with the relevant stakeholders to improve Temu’s service for consumers.”